Name that owl.....

[Cheryl Flory]

and its not a Great Horn Owl...

Canon 40D
Tamron 17-50
36mm
1/50"
F2.8
ISO 640
EC 0.0

While I would prefer the tether was not in the image, it was on the bird since the handler stepped out for lunch.
I see several other problems with this image like the feet and the background, but I also got a kick out of it, so I thought I would post it here. I have several images showing "Big Foot's" ability to shake/rearrange his feathers on particular parts of his body, at will.

Sharpening and contrast added. desat the background a little.

[john crookes]

How about a Long Eared doing the shake or maybe he was listening to chubby checker and doing the twist

[Cheryl Flory]

John, here he is doing the twist---

[Lance Peters]

Hi Cheryl - how about Bob!! This guy is clearly from the exorcist - he is posessd!!! Call a priest.

Nice capture.

[Alfred Forns]

That is one peculiar owl Seen the head twist but not the body twist !! Cool !!!

[Cheryl Flory]

oh, he is one talented young boy. As you can see he can turn parts independently of the whole body. but I thought showing the whole body shake might make ID a bit more difficult. lol But you can see why people sometimes think owls can turn their heads completely around! They are fast!

These images would have been a lot better if I had a floor tripod for these shots instead of hand holding. And since I had only my wide angle lens and so had to get close, it is a good thing he is so calm and likes people (as much as an owl can like people).


Big Foot is an Eurasian Eagle Owl, bred and raised in captivity. There are 3 breeders in the country for this breed, one living within an hour of me. IF babies are hatched this spring, I am invited to come and see them.

[David Thomasson]

I believe a dance was named after that owl: the Funky Chicken.

[Nonda Surratt]

Great series Cheryl! Yep one very talented Owl and nice job by the photog in catching the action

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Hysterical Cheryl! Each pose seems to outdo the last!

[Gus Cobos]

I love it Cheryl...after this, he must need to take a muscle relaxer, for the neck pain...:eek::D:cool:

[Stefan Minnig]

Very good. Next time he can come over and scramble my eggs. :)

[Richard Waas]

Were you at the Michael Phelps party when you thought of this? Great use of blur technique. Congrats!!